#BehindTheScenes 66 - Writing Process
- saraelliemackenzie82
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
I knew I had to cycle back to this subject someday. The writing process. The messy way I keep track of everything. The colors and the sticky notes and the tabs. The strange bookmarks, with appointment cards, ads, old pamphlets and coupons. What does it all mean?
This #BehindTheScenes is here to tell you more!
Somehow.
The mind of a neurodivergent person varies. Each one is different, myself included. A lot of us can see colors, sounds and more in our head. Sometimes, it's not voiced. Other times, it's translated onto paper, dance, song and drawings. I have admittedly been a fair drawer, but never enough to be confident in my works. I cannot dance much without watching my feet or else, I trip. I never sing in front of people outside of the house because of criticism, despite going two years of chorus in a Roman Catholic church (St Mary's). Writing was it, and I actually loved it.
Initially, because of the criticism I received growing up, I never told many people about my writing. In high school, everyone was contributing to the school magazine, and I knew that I had some content to submit and really wanted to be part of something. Thus began my initial journey into the literary world.
Back then, I was just writing poetry. I had a few poems (which I do not plan to publish) and a sharp mind. I could remember them and did not need to saved anywhere. I managed to print out copies from the school library and stuffed it in a binder with my history notes.
Later, when I began writing fan fiction and posting it to the internet (at eighteen or nineteen years old?), I ran into the same flow. I had a good memory and I could write stories down without writing down notes. Sometimes, for special stories with editions, I might remain on that chapter and read through it for reference. It wasn't until Casting Shadows that I began to see that I needed to write things down. It was getting more complex than I realized.
It started with a sticky note. I wanted to remember all the names of King Gerald's councilors. I wrote them down and where they came from, as if the place was important too. When I finished writing the whole book, I realized that, not only was there a world coming alive, but that I needed notepads and pens...quickly.
Thus began the colorful notes.
Each notebook has different colored notes, an array of different colored stickie notes and crude drawings. In the many places where I have something important, I use anything as a bookmark, hence the random papers and cards. I could remember what book a note is in because of this. And with the stickie tabs and added notes taped between empty lines, these books look like a disorganized and overcrowded scrapbook than actual notebooks with notes from an author.
In those pages, I have methods to remembering things and where it is. Sometimes, I rewrite important points. Others, I will expand the point or write it down because I was going to need it later. And then, there is THE idea. The plot twist that will cross reference everything. I make sure to always go back and review it. Each scene leads one into the other.
I have four long stages of writing:
The idea - The spark first starts in my head. From there, I am working through some characters and plot. I don't have the whole story yet. Generally I write it down someplace quickly, like a summary of some sort, and think on it. If I am hyper-focused, I can act it out in my head.
The first draft - Writing out the idea is quick and painful. It's one of the most frustrating aspects, as I see it. I am pulling the scenes, characters and plot out of my head, which is jumbled up to begin with. The skeleton of the story begins, and small details are added and subtracted.
The rewrite - This stage is several drafts long. Once the first draft is done, I am going back and forth between each page, connecting the dots, ensuring flow and character development and plugging up the holes. This is where I curse myself because the first draft is ridiculous and I hate it.
The finale - This is when I am about ready to publish. I am satisfied with what has been edited and want to go over it one more time. Few things are changed in this stage. It's mostly checking grammar and spelling and ensuring that I fit the book into Amazon's strict guidelines and
And they say authors are crazy without all this frustration!
It does drive us crazy. With so much on our minds, authors especially are overwhelmed. And while my method is different from another's, I am sure that other authors are equally frustrated by the while process of creating a book.
Namaste, everyone! Have a wonderful day!
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